Kurtenbach: The Niners have no excuse for being this bad

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Nick Mullens #4 of the San Francisco 49ers is sacked in the first quarter against the Seattle Seahawks at CenturyLink Field on December 2, 2018 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)

SEATTLE, WA - DECEMBER 02: Doug Baldwin #89 of the Seattle Seahawks scores a touchdown in the second quarter against the San Francisco 49ers at CenturyLink Field on December 2, 2018 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images)

Seattle Seahawks fans hold a sign that reads "We Ain't Mad Bro Thanks Sherm!" as a message to San Francisco 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 2, 2018, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

San Francisco 49ers running back Jeff Wilson is tackled by Seattle Seahawks middle linebacker Bobby Wagner, left, as he rushes during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 2, 2018, in Seattle. (AP Photo/John Froschauer)

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The reality of the 49ers’ situation has been inescapable for a while now.

This team is bad. Really bad. And every week, it seems to get a bit worse (so long as they’re not playing the Raiders).

The Niners were embarrassed in their 43-16 loss to the Seahawks Sunday. Seattle looked like a big brother playing a younger sibling — heeding Mom’s calls to “let them win” for spurts amid heavy-handed runs of complete dominance.

It was not a respectable loss for San Francisco — there were no moral victories to be found — and while I’m wary to make too much out of one game against a playoff-caliber opponent, Sunday’s game, paired with last week’s listless performance against the Buccaneers and the team’s generally dreary play over the last two months (feel free to celebrate a Thursday Night Football win, but it’s not a full-value victory), raises some questions about the trajectory of this 49ers team going forward.

When Garoppolo tore his ACL in Kansas City in Week 3, it was clear that the 49ers’ season was lost.

But ten weeks later, there’s simply no excuse for the Niners’ being this uninspiring, this undisciplined, and this consistently overmatched.

There’s just no excuse for them being this bad.

While injury and inexperience are valid and well-cited factors in the 49ers 2-9 record, they can’t explain away all of this team’s sins.

No, there’s clearly another factor in play — one that’s apparently uncouth to bring up: ineptitude.

And it can be found at every level for this team.

When Garoppolo was carted off the field against the Chiefs, another 49ers’ season started — one that exists solely in the abstract.

If you watch the 49ers on a weekly basis, you have plenty of time for the mind to wander, and in that time, you’ve certainly imagined how the Niners’ 2018 season would be playing out had Garoppolo remained healthy.

Amid the imaginary land of rainbows, unicorns, and handsome quarterbacks with two healthy knees, do you see the Niners contending for the playoffs?

I can’t get there.

(Photo by David Eulitt/Getty Images) (Photo by David Eulitt/Getty Images)

Now, there are some building blocks in place in Santa Clara — mostly on the offensive side of the ball. (And that’s no coincidence.)

George Kittle has been tremendous all season — he’s one of the best tight ends in the NFL and a bonafide keeper. Matt Breida is a keeper too — he should play plenty alongside prized, but injured, free agent Jerick McKinnon in the 49ers’ backfield next season. I like the state of the offensive line, particularly in the run game, and rookie Dante Pettis has broken out over the last two games — he could be the Niners’ No. 2 receiver for years to come

Do the Niners have enough playmakers to keep up in an NFL that’s undergoing an Air Raid revolution where the best offenses look like they’re playing 7-on-7? I’m on the fence.

The fact that the 49ers’ offense has an elite coordinator calling the plays might get me over the edge, though. Shanahan’s ability to scheme guys open for third-string quarterback Nick Mullens was on full display against the Seahawks. It’s not easy to move the ball when your quarterback can’t throw outside the numbers and you have a practice squad guy in at running back, but the 49ers did it on Sunday.

But while Shanahan is a tremendous offensive coordinator, there’s little evidence to date that he’s a good head coach or all-around talent evaluator.

(Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)

Shanahan creates plausible deniability in his rhetoric — the offense is always “we” and the defense is discussed in the third person — but he’s responsible for all three phases of the 49ers’ team and the ones he distances himself from are floundering.

The past week has pushed an unflattering truth to the forefront for the Niners — this team lacks adequate building blocks on the defensive side of the ball. And while defense might not be en vogue in this iteration of the NFL, you still need to be slightly competent on that side of the ball to contend.

The 49ers are not even close to competent, and there’s no a clear path to get to that level this offseason. There’s simply too much ground to cover.

Solomon Thomas was supposed to be a building block. He isn’t.

Reuben Foster was supposed to be one too. Clearly, he was not.

As I see it, the Niners only have two building blocks on the defensive side of the ball.

Outside of DeForest Buckner and rookie linebacker Fred Warner (I guess) are there any members of this Niners’ defense you feel confident will be on this team come Week 1 of the 2020 season?

The Niners’ defense started the season poorly and hasn’t improved since. Outside of that outlier game against the Raiders, there’s nothing to applaud. Besides Warner and Buckner, who has impressed this season? Where’s the player development? Where’s the whole unit progression?

I know there’s not much talent to work with, the lack of improvement — macro or micro — is damning for defensive coordinator Robert Saleh. “Fire the coordinator” is an easy knee-jerk reaction to poor play, but for a coach with this kind of autonomy to not have a single positive point to add to his resume for this season makes it really easy to mark him as the scapegoat.

(Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)

I don’t know if Saleh’s the problem — I’d like to give the guy the benefit of the doubt — but I’m having a hard time seeing how he’s the solution to the Niners’ problems. Defense is tricky to evaluate, particularly these days, but there has to be some culpability for this sustained ineptitude — a head has to roll. Shanahan can’t risk another year of this kind of defense. And forgive me if I don’t think Shanahan is going to fire himself as the team’s chief personnel guy.

What does this team have heading into a make-or-break 2019 season?

An offense that can be good, but probably not great, and a defense that’s going to need more than one offseason to get to a level of adequacy.

[Oh, and for those who care, the Niners’ special teams are hardly the envy of the NFC West, either.]

A quarterback who is highly paid but still unproven and a head coach and defensive coordinator who might be living examples of the Peter Principle.

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